A vicar yesterday denied launching a sex attack on a ten-year-old boy in his home.

The Reverend George Glover, known as Father Eddie, admitted breaking church rules by allowing the youngster into his home while he was alone, but said he had expected his wife to be back within minutes.

When asked by Michael Hodson, defending, if he had indecently assaulted the schoolboy, he told Newcastle Crown Court: "I did not."

Mr Glover said: "I was expecting my wife home shortly so I let him into the house. I put him into the sitting room with the dog."

But he told the court that he stayed away from him by busying himself in his study and talking to his daughter on the telephone.

When asked by Penny Moreland, prosecuting, why the rules of the clergy were not at the forefront of his mind, he replied: "I had finished doing two funerals, I had work to do in my office, those things were at the forefront of my mind. I obviously did not foresee what would happen."

The court heard that Mr Glover had not mentioned during police questioning that he had been expecting his wife to return so soon.

But the vicar told the court that he was arrested early in the morning and was kept in a police cell until the afternoon.

He told the court: "My state of mind when questioned by the police was not very good at all. I was extremely distressed."

Mr Glover, of St Chad's Anglican Parish, Bensham, Gateshead, denies one charge of indecent assault.

The trial continues.